peckham



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Patented Dec. 24, 1889.

E. PBCKHAM. MoToR TRUGK.

(No Model.)

@In vanwbor'g. Mm r (No Model.) 2 Sheets- Sheet 2.

E. PEGKHAM.

A MQTORTRUGK. l No. 417,937. Patented Deo. 24, 1889-.

Maw' e UNITED 4STATES EDGAR PEOKI'IAM, OF NEW YORK, N. Yr

PATENT OFFICE.

.i 4ueren-TRUCK- SPEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.417,937, dated December 24, 1889. Application tiled August 21, 1889.Serial No. 321,454. (No model.)

T0 all whom it may concern: 1 i

Be it known that I, EDGAR PECKHAM, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Motor-Trucks, ofwhich the following is a speciication.

My invention relates to motor-trucks intended particularly forsupporting electric m otors which, by means of suitable gearing betweenthem and the axles of the drive-wheels, are adapted to impart motion tothe said wheels to propel the truck.

My invention is described hereinafter, and its novel features are setforth in the claims at the end of the description.

To enable those interested thesuleje'ct to which the invention relatesto construct and make use of my improvements, I will now describe thesame in connection with the accompanying drawings, which form part ofthis specication, and in which like features are indicated by likefigures and letters of reference in the several views, and wherein-Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a truckframe embodying myinvention; Fig. 2,aside elevation of a motortruck including the frameshown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a detail of a part of said truck-frame; Fig. 4,a side elevation of a motor-truck, showing my construction of truss(hereinafter referred to) embodied in an organization of truck includingposts, instead of pedestals, co-operating with the journalboxes; Fig. 5,a perspective view of the crossbar for supporting the motor at the topof the truck-frame; and Fig. 6, a side view of said cross-bar, showingthe iexible joint for suspending the motor connected thereto.

Referring to the drawings, the truck-frame in Figs. 1 and 2 isillustrated embodying the longitudinal sills 4, united by the'transverseend pieces 5. The parts 4 and 5 may be, and generally are, madeintegral. i The sills 4 are intended in this construction to sustain theweight of the motors in proper relation to the axles and drive-wheels,instead of having the same supported, as is usual, from the frame-worksuspended from the sills 4. The transverse bars 6', which are bolted tothe sills 4', as shown, serve primarily as such supporting means for themotors, and also serve as braces to assist the sills 4, or the trusses,presently described, to resist lateral thrust. In case it may bedesirable to omit the sills 4 and end pieces 5 and bolt the trussesdirectly to the car-body an, as shown in Fig. 3, the transverse bars 6will be bolted to the upper longitudinal member of the truss-bracesimply. The pedestals 7, Fig. 2, may be of the usual form, and theyco-operate with the journal-boxes in the customary manner.

To give the required strength and rigidity to the structure withoutemploying an undue amount of met-al is an important object of my presentinvention, and to accomplish this object I make use of the metal trusshereinbefore mentioned, This truss, which is marked 9- one beingemployed at each side of the truckframe-is of the form indicated in thedrawings, and comprises an upper longitudinal section d, which restsagainst the under surface of the sill 4', as in Figs. l and 2, oragainst the body of the car, as shown in' Figs. 8 and 4, and two legs orbranches e, which incline downwardly from member (Z and terminate inangular ends g, furnishing feet for the truss. The angular ends g reston the lower longitudinal beam S, which extends from the front to therear journal-box or pedestal and constitutes the lowermost element ofsaid truss. The extremities of beam 8 may be turned up, if preferred, asshown at 71, in Figs. 1 to 3, in which case the angular ends g oflateral members e of the truss will abut against said verticalextremities 7L, as seen in the drawings. The ends g, as well as the endsof beam S, are provided with holes to receive the short bolts by whichthe said parts are held together, as shown. Bolted to each corner of theframe, as seen in Figs. l and 2, is a depending iron Y), whose lower endis bent at an angle to the body of said iron and is provided with abolt-hole. The short iron c is secured at one end to the under surfaceof beam 8 by the same bolt which holds the extremity of said beam andthe end g of branch e together, while the opposite end of iron c isbolted to iron b, as seen in the drawings. By this construction the axleand wheels of the truck, Figs. l and 2, are quickly removed through thebottom by unscrewing the nuts a, so as to take away the iron c, or itmay be swung around on one of said nuts as a pivot.

IOO

The truss 0, comprising, as aforesaid, the members d e 8, is supportedin operative relation to the sills 4 or the car-body a". by means ofbolts 11, which pass through sleeves abutting against (Z and S in vtheusual manner, the said bolts being held in place by nuts at top andbottom, as shown. Obviously the bolts 11 also give strength to thestructure and enable it to resist vertical pressure, as well as preventlateral displacementof thetrusses 9 at the tops. rlhe transverseconnecting-bar12, bolted, as shown, to the respective longitudinal beamsS, serves to prevent the lateral spreading ol,- the beams S.

In Fig. 4, which shows another organization of truck-frame embodying mytruss 9, the carbody is indicated by av, and 13 designates theaxle-boxes. These boxes are provided with brackets yl', and thelowermost member of the truss S is support-ed on said brackets andsecured thereto by the bolts la, encircled by thc coiled spring l5, asshown. 'lhe bolts l-lpass loosely through holes in the beam 8 and baseofthe car-body, so that the vertical motion of the car may compress thesprings 15 with the usual elastic effect. The brackets il on the outsideof the boxes 13 are provided with similar bolts and springs operating ina like manner. rlhe nuts 7s at the bottom of the last-mentioned bolts,in addition to keeping the bolts in place, serve to secure one end ofthe curved spring 1G to the lower surface of bracket fz, while theopposite end of said curved spring 1G is bolted to the car-body, as at17. That part of the truss marked d e is secured to the lowerlongitudinal beam 8 of said'truss by bolts t, passing through the ends gof the legs e, as indicated, and bolts 11 conneet the beam S wit-h theupper longitudinal member d ot' the truss, as in the organization shownin Figs. 1 to 3, and operate in like manner. The nuts m at the top ofthe lastmentioned bolts 11 secure one end of the bent spring-bars 17 tothe top of member (Z, while the opposite ends of said spring-bars arebolted, as shown at 18, to the car-body. By this construction not onlyis the requisite elastic motion of the car-body provided for, but asubstantial connection between truckframc and car-body ,is secured atthat point. The running-gear of the truck, as will be seen, is supportedwholly by the described truss arrangement. Comparatively little metalisI used in .this organization, and yet its strength is Very great.

In Fig. 4 the transverse braces (5 are bolted to member d of the truss,as indicated.

The motor is supported from brace (5 at the top of the frame by thearrangement shown in Fig. G, which consists of a metal bar 19, having aneye at the top, by which it is suspended from the staple 20, the latterbeing secured cent1-all)7 to the brace 6 by nuts 2l or equivalent means.rl`he bar 19 has shoulders n at the top and bottom, against whichshoulders the encircling spiral springs 22 abut. 'lhe forward end of themotor is hung to this spring-equipped bar 19in suclrman ner as to securethe required exible connecr tion between the motor and its support, soth at` the motor readily adjusts itself to different positions when theear is in motion.

The form of truss herein shown and dey scribed enables me to furnish atruck-frame embodying maximum strength with the employment of a minimumweight of metal,

since I do not rely in any marked degree u upon the rigidity of thematerial employedto resist the compressive forces. By supporting themotor from the top of the frame stead of at the bottom of themotor-truck.

adapts the truck to some desirable types of motors, which to obtain thebest results should be thus supported, besides rendering it possibletoobtain that degree of iexibility between the motor and its support thatis necessary to permit the apparatus to readily adapt itseli;` to thevaried motions of the movit g truck..

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is- A 1. A motor-truck provided with sidesupporting frames or trusses comprising upper and lower longitudinalmembers and laterally-inclined members bolted to the lower longitudinalmembers, in combination wit-h transverse meter-supporting bars bolted tothe upper longitudinal members and bolts, as 11, connecting the upperand lower longitudinal members together between the laterallyinclinedmembers, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with the car-body, of side supporting frames ortrusses comprising upper and lower longitudinal members,laterally-inclined members, and bolts connecting the upper and lowerlongitudinal members.

together, the lower longitudinal members supported on the journal-boxesof the truck and the upper longitudinal members connected with thecar-body, substantially as set firth.

In a motor-truck, a truss consisting of upper and lower longitudinalmembers, laterally-inclined melnbers bolted to the lower longitudinalmember, and upright bolts connecting the said two longitudinal members,in combination with t-he depending irons b and horizontalconnecting-irons c, bolted to b and also to the ends of said lowerlongitudinal member, substantially as set forth.

et. In a motor-truck, a pair of trusses each consisting of upper andlower longitudinal members and laterally-inclined members bolted to thelower longitudinal members, in combination with upright bolts connectingthe said upper and lower longitudinal members and a transverse rod orbeam connectng the two lower longitudinal members, subtantially as setforth.

5. In a motor-truck, a truss consisting of upper and lower longitudinalmembers and laterally-inclined members, the latter bolted to said lowerlongitudinal member, in combination with journalboxes provided withbrackets supporting the said lower longitudinal member, upright boltsconnecting the upper and lower longitudinal members, and curved springssecured at one end to the upper longitudinal member of the truss, whiletheir other ends are bolted to the car-body, substantially as set forth.

6. A motor-truck provided with side supportingframes or trussescomprising upper and lowerlongitudinal members and laterallyinclinedmembers bolted to the lower longitudinal members, in combination withjournal-boxes provided with brackets nnen which said truss-frames aresupported, substantially as set forth.

7. In a motor-truck, journal-boxes provided with brackets and trussessupported on said brackets and bolted to the base of the car, asdescribed, in combination with the curved springs, as 16, secured at oneend to the brackets of the journal-boxes and having their opposite endsbolted to the base of the car, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination, with the frame of a motortruek provided with a fixedtransverse bar, of a metal rod suspended from said transverse bar andprovided with a pair of coiled springs co-operating with the top andbottom surfaces of the forward end of the motor, through which saidmetal bar passes, substantially as set forth.

0. The combination, with the4 frame of a motor-truck provided with afixed transverse bar having a suspending staple bolted through it, of ametal rod having shoulders, as fn, and also having an eye by which it issuspended fromsaid staple, and coiled springs, as 22, encircling saidrod and adapted to cooperate With the forward end of the motor,substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York, inthe county of New York and State of New York, this17th day of August, A. D. 1889.

EDGAR FECKHAM. lVitnesses:

J. E. M. BOWEN, W. E. BOWEN.

